Just a Mirror for the Sun
by Alohomora3
Summary: When Harry gets asked to do an important job, what surprises lay in store? r+r!
1. The Letter

Chapter 1

The crisp rays of winter sunshine beamed through the window as Harry gazed out at the gardens of Hogwarts. Hagrid's hut was visible among the light mist, a glittering frost on the grass surrounding it. Hagrid himself was busy in the pumpkin patch nearby, in his thick hairy winter robes, with his boarhound Fang standing as if on guard at the door of the hut. The icy northerly wind picked up the autumn leaves and swirled them around in the air. 

However cold it was outside, Harry felt he would rather be out there than where he currently sat. He was under Professor Trelawney's watchful eye in the muggy divination classroom. A crackling fire roasting in the grate and the doors and windows tightly shut were almost too much for Harry. He stared back at his book in front of him as Professor Trelawney glided towards him. The class was strangely silent today, but this was probably because that none of them had had much sleep last night after a Gryffindor victory in Quidditch against Ravenclaw. Harry thought ecstatically of the moment he had closed his hand tightly around the golden snitch…

"You look far, far away this morning, my dear," said Professor Trelawney, breaking into Harry's daydream.

"Er, sorry…," said Harry, trying to stare back at the open book on the table in front of him.

"A troubled mind often reflects a troubled life," Professor Trelawney added in a misty voice.

"What's Harry got to be troubled about?! He just won us the Quidditch match last night didn't he?" said a voice on Harry's left. Ron Weasley, his red hair flaming, smirked at Harry, who grinned back.

"Nevertheless… deep down…," murmured Professor Trelawney. "I'd advise you to watch out for strangers this week my dear, I have seen some terrible things… terrible things," she added, more forcefully as she drifted away from them over to Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. 

"What's wrong with her?" said Ron in disgust. "Why doesn't she ever say anything good will happen to you?" 

"Don't know. Bet she thinks if she predicts my death often enough, if it happens she'll be able to tell the other teachers she was right," Harry said lightly. Way too often had Professor Trelawney predicted his doom for him to pay much attention anymore. 

As the lesson ended, the class climbed down the silver ladder that led up to Professor Trelawney's classroom. Waiting for Harry and Ron at the bottom was their friend, Hermione, who seemed to be bursting with some information for them. "Harry! Oh Harry, guess what?"

"What is it Hermione, get another 'A' for one of your essays?" asked Ron.

"_No_, Ron, it's this!" She waved a letter excitedly in front of their faces. Harry made a grab for it and read it aloud.

__

Dear Mr Hagrid, 

We are pleased to inform you that after due consideration of the panel, we at the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures would like to declare the Hippogriff "Buckbeak" released of his charge. Since the disappearance of the Hippogriff in question, regulations surrounding the condemning of so-called dangerous creature have been altered. Therefore the animal is free and if seen will be brought back to Hogwarts.

"Hermione! This is great! Let's go down and see him," said Harry, as Hermione, visibly still excited, hopped about in front of them.

As they walked over to Hagrid's hut, grass crunching under their feet, Hermione said, "I wonder what made the Ministry change their minds?"

"Maybe Malfoy's dad got eaten by a dragon and the committee members realised they do have minds of their own," suggested Ron.

"Do you know how unlikely that is Ron? No, I bet it was Dumbledore…" said Hermione. Hagrid's hut was right in front of them now. Harry reached out his hand and knocked.

Hagrid's door burst open, and Hagrid stood in the doorway with a huge smile, although he looked like he had been crying. "He got off! He got off! Tha' Dumbledore, he's a fine man he is. Made them committee members change their minds… Beaky's free! He'll come home to his mummy, jus' you wait an' see!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged doubting looks as they entered Hagrid's hut. They knew that Buckbeak was with Harry's godfather Sirius Black, but the two of them were in hiding together and it seemed unlikely that one would return without the other. There was no way of explaining this to Hagrid of course, only five people knew that Sirius was innocent of his murder charge, and they were themselves, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin, who had been one of Sirius's greatest friends, as well as Harry's father's, back in their day at Hogwarts. Lupin had been the finest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher the school had seen in years, but had been forced to leave Hogwarts when word got out that he was a werewolf. Harry missed him, almost as much as Sirius; having them nearby made his father seem not so far away… Anyway, they were gone, they were all gone.

"Cupa tea anyone?" asked Hagrid cheerily.

"Yes please," said Hermione and got up and reached for the huge teapot, but stopped at another knock on the door. Fang the boarhound growled deep in his throat, until he saw Professor Dumbledore standing in the doorway, then settled down on his blankets again.

"Dumbledore!" Hagrid beamed.

"Good afternoon Hagrid," said the headmaster of Hogwarts, the familiar twinkle in his eye. "You must be celebrating. I heard of Buckbeak's dismissal."

"My 'lil Beaky, free- I can' believe it! All thanks t' you," added Hagrid.

Dumbledore frowned slightly. "I assure you it had nothing to do with me, Hagrid." The small group in front of him looked slightly bewildered- surely nothing other than Dumbledore could have made the Ministry change the law…

"Any alterations in the wizarding laws were made by the Ministry of Magic, not my influence. I only assume they had better things to spend their energies on… looking for a stray hippogriff took up too many precious resources," Dumbledore continued, mildly enough to appear casual, but there was a definite strength behind his words.

"What-"

"My dear Miss Granger, it was merely a suggestion," Professor Dumbledore's eyes glinted knowingly behind his spectacles. "Now, what about that tea?" 

*


	2. Strange Happenings

Chapter 2

From then on, Dumbledore had avoided any further conversation on Buckbeak. It was only later on in the common room that Harry, Ron and Hermione got another chance to talk about it.

"What do you think Dumbledore meant when he said the Ministry had better things to do than look for Buckbeak?" asked Ron.

"It must be really important for them to change their plans so suddenly," said Hermione. 

"You don't think that it's… _Sirius_ they're after now do you?" asked Ron hesitantly, glancing at Harry.

Harry sat silently, staring into the fire.

Not knowing quite what to say, Ron and Hermione gazed into the flickering flames of the fire as well, watching them dance on the logs. The room around them was silent- the other Gryffindors had long since put away their work or games of wizard chess and had gone up to their beds, leaving the three alone in a brooding silence.

As Harry looked at the fire, the flames stopped flickering. They seemed to be fading a little. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks, he was tired after all. But then, from the heart of the fire, a shape was forming. Harry quickly looked over at Hermione and Ron, who were also staring intently at the fire. The shape grew stronger until a face formed in the flames. Harry relaxed- he realised that he'd seen this happen before. As the face came closer into focus, he saw at once that it was Dumbledore. 

"Professor Dumbledore!" squeaked Hermione, horrified that he had caught them out of their dormitories.

"Good evening Miss Granger, Mr Weasley, Mr Potter. I am glad to see you… though I'm afraid Mr Filch wouldn't be if he saw you were not in your beds. Be that as it may, I wish to ask something of the three of you," said Dumbledore. "No doubt you remember my good friend Nicholas Flamel, owner of the philosopher's stone?"

"Of course Professor Dumbledore, but didn't he- I mean, isn't he, well, dead?" asked Hermione.

"The stone has indeed been destroyed Miss Granger, and yes, in time he will die. However, a man of his age has several affairs to be sorted before the time must come. The elixir he has stored will last long enough for this. He has specifically requested help of my students with his work. I have no doubt that you are the ones for this task. But you must understand that this is entirely top secret, hence appearing to you like this. I must ask you to repeat this conversation to no one. Now, why don't you go off to bed and we can discuss this further tomorrow?" 

Before they had a chance to reply, there was a _pop _and Dumbledore's head had vanished.

Then followed a silence, shortly broken by, "I can't believe this, does he really think we have time to sort out some old man's rubbish? I've got an essay to do for Snape that's got to be four scrolls long!" 

"Ron, don't be so ungrateful, Dumbledore has put his trust in us that we do the job well," said Hermione a tinge of pride present in her voice.

"Great," said Ron flatly.

"We can talk about this tomorrow. I need some sleep," said Harry wearily. 

They got up and moved silently up the separate stairs to their dormitories. Harry pulled the hangings shut around his bed and fell asleep instantly.

*

Not so far away stood a lone hooded figure, against a starless sky. The trees to his left seemed to be devoid of wind that had been rustling through not five minutes ago. Nothing moved, nothing looked to be alive, time seemed to be frozen. The next second, a rustling could be heard in the tall grass. The figure didn't move. 

"Show yourself." A cold, seething voice rang out.

A human form slowly grew from the ground next to the hooded man. It was short and rounded, compared to the lithe silhouette of the first man. 

"My Lord…" began the short man.

"Save your excuses. The task I set you- it was not accomplished."

"He… got away- it wasn't my fault!"

"It never is with you, Wormtail. Always someone else who can be blamed," the cold voice spoke again. "But there is one thing that puzzles me. How did you manage to foil my plan? If you followed my plan, Harry Potter would no longer exist! What does this suggest to you?" The tone was patronising, almost sarcastic.

"I… don't know, I'm sure my Lord," whimpered Wormtail.

"_You didn't do it did you_? DID YOU?" thundered the first man. Sparks flew from the hood as if his rage was being materialised.

"My Lord, you don't need to kill the boy. He is nothing compared to you, no threat at all… I just thought that-" 

"I have had enough of your half-witted explanations! You _know_ he must die. Your _previous_ uselessness could have been down to your talentless, brainless self, but the task was well within even your limits Wormtail! A simple curse! That is all I asked of you. Your faithfulness to me has wavered ever since _Harry Potter_-" he almost spat the words- "saved your life. I am not in need of a servant who is noton the Dark Side."

"But I _am, _Your Greatness, I _am_! What would you do without me? I remained faithful while all others left you…" 

"_Liar_!" screamed the first voice, chilling the air around them.

The second man fell silent, and looked down at the ground.

The hooded man seemed to be pulling something out of his dark cloak.

"NO! You can't kill me! You need me!"

"I do not. Lord Voldemort needs no one. Goodbye, Wormtail."

There followed a sudden green-flamed explosion, leaving only a rising cloud of dust, and the outline of the hooded man, lined by the moon. Wormtail was nowhere to be seen.

*


End file.
